First published in 1925, The Painted Veil is an affirmation of the human capacity to grow, change, and forgive. Set in England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, it is the story of the beautiful but shallow young Kitty Fane. When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to a remote region of China ravaged by a cholera epidemic.

The Portrait of a Lady

When Isabel Archer, a beautiful, spirited American, is brought to Europe by her wealthy aunt Touchett, it is expected that she will soon marry. But Isabel, resolved to enjoy the freedom that her fortune has opened up and to determine her own fate, does not hesitate to turn down two eligible suitors. It is only when she finds herself irresistibly drawn to the cultivated but worthless Gilbert Osmond that she discovers that wealth is a two-edged sword and that there is a price to be paid for independence.

The House of Mirth

First published in 1905, the House of Mirth shocked many by its candour. Lily Bart moves in the shallow, new-moneyed class of New York society in which men make the money and women spend it. There amongst the glib diversions of the newly rich, she seeks a husband who can not only maintain her in this charmed existence, but can also provide unstinting admiration.

The Four Feathers

Just before his regiment sails off to war in the Sudan, British officer Harry Feversham quits the military. He is immediately given four white feathers as symbols of cowardice, one by each of his three best friends and one by his fiancée. To disprove this grave dishonor, Harry dons an Arabian disguise and leaves for the Sudan, where he anonymously comes to the aid of his three friends, saving each of their lives. Having proven his bravery, Harry returns to England, hoping to regain the love and respect of his fiancée.

Far From The Madding Crowd

This is the story of Bathsheba Everdene, who inherits her uncle's farm, then surprises the villagers of Weatherbury by deciding to run it herself rather than hire a manager. 3 men vie for the affections of this independent young woman.

Cakes and Ale

When Cakes and Ale was first published in 1930 it roused a storm of controversy, since many people imagined they recognised portraits of literary figures now no more. It is the novel for which Maugham wished to be remembered.

Mrs. Dalloway

Mrs. Dalloway, perhaps Virginia Woolf’s greatest novel, vividly follows English socialite Clarissa Dalloway as she prepares for a party in post-World War I London. Four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening (American Beauty, The Kids Are All Right) brings Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness style of storytelling to life, exploring the hidden springs of thought and action in one day of a woman’s life in a brilliant performance.

Anna and the King of Siam: The Book That Inspired the Musical and Film 'The King and I'

Anna Leonowens, a proper Englishwoman, was an unlikely candidate to change the course of Siamese (Thai) history. A young widow and mother, her services were engaged in the 1860's by King Mongkut of Siam to help him communicate with foreign governments and be the tutor to his children and favored concubines.

A Room with a View

In this piece of social comedy, E. M. Forster is concerned with one of this favourite themes: the 'undeveloped heart' of the English middle classes, who are here represented by a group of tourists and expatriates in Florence.

The Razor's Edge

The Great War changed everything and the years following it were tumultuous - most of all for those who lived the war first-hand. Maugham himself is a character in this novel of self-discovery and search for meaning, but the protagonist is a character named Larry. Battered physically and spiritually by the war, Larry's physical wounds heal, but his spirit is changed almost beyond recognition.

The Old Maid

The story follows the life of Tina, a young woman caught between the mother who adopted her - the beautiful, upstanding Delia - and her true mother, her plain, unmarried ‘aunt’ Charlotte, who gave Tina up to provide her with a socially acceptable life. The three women live quietly together until Tina’s wedding day, when Delia’s and Charlotte’s hidden jealousies rush to the surface.

The Moon and Sixpence

Englishman Charles Strickland leads the life of a mundane London stockbroker. He has a wife and two children and enjoys a settled life with the prospect of a prosperous retirement. However, Strickland throws it all over and abandons his family to become an artist in Paris. In a novel rich with the kind of characters and conversations that only W.S. Maugham could conjure up, we follow Strickland's path of hedonism and sheer creative verve as he moves from Paris to Marseilles to Tahiti.

The Moon And Sixpence

Charles Strickland, a conventional stockbroker, abandons his wife and children for Paris and Tahiti, to live his life as a painter. While his betrayal of family, duty and honour gives him the freedom to achieve greatness, his decision leads to an obsession which carries severe implications.

The Remains of the Day

The Remains of the Day is a profoundly compelling portrait of the perfect English butler and of his fading, insular world in postwar England. At the end of his three decades of service at Darlington Hall, Stevens embarks on a country drive, during which he looks back over his career to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving "a great gentleman". But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington's "greatness" and graver doubts about his own faith in the man he served.

The Narrow Corner

On his way home from a remote Pacific island, Dr Saunders travels with two strangers: the treacherous Captain Nichols, and Fred, a handsome Australian with a shadowy past. Driven to shelter from a storm on the island of Banda, the trio meets good-natured Erik Christessen and his fiancée, the cool and beautiful Louise. A tense, exotic tale of love, jealousy, murder and suicide, which evolved from a passage in Maugham's earlier masterpiece, The Moon and Sixpence.

The Magician

Renowned English surgeon Arthur Burdon is engaged to the beautiful Margaret Dauncey, who is studying art in Paris. The match is met with approval from all sides, and everyone is happy - until the mysterious Oliver Haddo enters the picture. Both Arthur and his fiancée dislike the enormously fat and eccentric Oliver but are fascinated by his stories of black magic, by his demonstrations of a power that seems inhuman. And while they scoff at his boasts, their dislike turns to loathing.

Silence

Recipient of the 1966 Tanizaki Prize, it has been called Endo's supreme achievement" and "one of the twentieth century's finest novels". Considered controversial ever since its first publication, it tackles the thorniest religious issues of belief and faith head on. A novel of historical fiction, it is the story of a Jesuit missionary sent to seventeenth century Japan, who endured persecution that followed the defeat of the Shimabara Rebellion.

Catalina

Set in the time of the infamous Spanish Inquisition, Catalina is a novel both richly historical and affectingly human. Two eminent persons, natives of the city, were arriving after an absence of many years, and great doings had been arranged in their honor. In the Lady Chapel of the church a crippled girl prayed to the Blessed Virgin whose day it was, too. No greater things were planned for the girl, Catalina, but greater things awaited her.

One True Thing

A young woman sits in jail, accused of the mercy killing of her dying mother. She didn't do it, but she thinks she knows who did. In the last months of her life, Ellen Gulden's mother revealed startling secrets that challenged everything Ellen believed about her family. Now, in jail, Ellen believes those secrets will tell her who had the courage to end her mother's suffering.

The Dying Animal

Philip Roth, one of the best-known and award winning literary masters of our time, engages his readership with insightful and challenging novels of the human condition. With The Dying Animal, he revisits the character David Kepesh. At age 60, Kapesh is drawn out of his carefully ordered existence and into an obsessive affair with one of his students.

The Secret Garden

Mary, unloved and selfish, finds friendship and happiness helping her neurotic, invalid cousin become strong and healthy. Nature's powerful magic touches both children as they toil to revive their secret garden. The story alludes to some very modern themes including the ability of mental beliefs to create health, the strength of group optimism, and the restorative power of nature.

The Summing Up

William Somerset Maugham (1874�1965) was born at the height of British imperial power. When he died, the British Empire was all but a memory. In Maugham's lifetime, as his civilization slowly disappeared, people from all walks of life, the proud, the urbane, the crude, and the desperate, passed beneath the lens of his dispassionate scrutiny. Transformed into some of the most unforgettable literary works of the 20th century, his experiences re-emerged in his plays, fiction, and essays.

Les Misérables: Translated by Julie Rose

One of the great classics of world literature and the inspiration for the most beloved stage musical of all time, Les Misérables is legendary author Victor Hugo’s masterpiece. This extraordinary English version by renowned translator Julie Rose captures all the majesty and brilliance of Hugo’s work. Here is the timeless story of the quintessential hunted man—Jean Valjean—and the injustices, violence, and social inequalities that torment him.

All the King's Men

The fictionalized account of Louisiana's colorful and notorious governor, Huey Pierce Long, All the King's Men follows the startling rise and fall of Willie Stark, a country lawyer in the Deep South of the 1930s. Beset by political enemies, Stark seeks aid from his right-hand man Jack Burden, who will bear witness to the cataclysmic unfolding of this very American tragedy.

Publisher's Summary

First published in 1925, The Painted Veil is an affirmation of the human capacity to grow, change, and forgive. Set in England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, it is the story of the beautiful but shallow young Kitty Fane. When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to a remote region of China ravaged by a cholera epidemic.

Stripped of the British society of her youth and overwhelmed by the desolation around her, she is compelled by her awakening conscience to reassess her life. She takes up work with children at a convent, but when her husband dies, she is forced to return to England to her father, her one remaining relative, to raise her unborn child. Though too late for her marriage, she has learned humility, independence, and how to love.

What the Critics Say

Audie Award Finalist, Classic, 2007

"[Maugham is] the modern writer who has influenced me the most." (George Orwell) "An expert craftsman....His style is sharp, quick, subdued, casual."(New York Times) "The Painted Veil, with its sadness, its moral tension, its irony and compassion, its building evocations of lust and terror and remorse, is a work of art." (Spectator)

I was intreged by the trailer for the recent motion picture and thought of reading the book prior to seeing the movie. It is truly thought provoking and great from start to finish. The reader is a delight. I am now in search of more of Somerset Maugham's works.

I generally consider myself an educated person, but somehow got through (many) decades of adult life without reading Maugham. I'm either very lucky to have finally found this writer, or really dumb to have missed him for so long. Either way, I was enchanted by the writing, approved of the narration, and can't seem to get the story out of my mind. There are so many ways to consider the story, the characters, the setting and the atmosphere I can't begin to tell you. I can tell you that even if you don't usually crave "classics" (but maybe have a few favorites as I have like The Great Gatsby and The Old Man and the Sea) you've got to listen to, and consider, The Painted Veil.

Maugham's story is dated but no doubt true to its time, and for that reason sad and believable. His sympathy for the dull and restricted lives that many women were expected to endure is tempered by his disgust at the superficiality, racism and timidity of the British upper classes. This tale is a true social and political portrait of an era, and as creepily modern as it is time-worn.

"The Painted Veil" is a compelling tale of lust and redemption, a story that begins sordidly and ends profoundly and one that is rich in reality, compassion, and hope. It is a morality tale of astonishing depth and humanity. Beautifully written and entertainingly read, it it is well worth listening to more than once.

I really enjoyed this book. It is the first book I have experienced by Maugham, and I was impressed with both the writing and the handling of men's and women's issues/feelings. The narrator is excellent. I would not have found this book without Audible. What a great way to experience the classics.

The beginning chapters of this book had me expecting a far different type of story than this turned out to be. The metamorphosis of complex characters who can--and sometimes do--make important steps in life was told with such candor and sensitivity that I find myself quite astonished about how it was done. The book was in no sense difficult to understand, yet its messages are quite rigorous and profound. I would highly recommned this novel, author, and excellent reader to anyone who (like myself) hopes someday to think and grow up into an insightful and gracious soul.

The prose is just beautiful, the English is quaint and the narrator is wonderful. Love and meaning in life exists for those who seek to find/ uncover it. Author's world view reminds me of the quote the stars shine down and weep for us. The characters overall and psychological profiles are superbly fleshed out and made real. Deeply touched by the heroine. I am disappointed by the summary above as it gives away all the broad strokes and so detracted from my listen. I felt a touch sad and irritable after listening but this will be one of my all time favorite books and I think I will buy it in hardcover. Exceeded expectations greatly. Quick read.

Even if you've seen the made for TV movie, listen to this book! Maugham's writing is brought to life by Kate Reading's superb narration. How she does so many different voices so well is a mystery. The story centers on the response of a husband who discovers his spoiled wife has cheated on him. Was his initial intent to put her in such peril that her death would be imminent? How did she adapt and grow in response to her husband's leadership? Mostly set in China during a cholera epidemic, it is a worthy story that is a great listen.

I have tried to listen to as many audible classics as I can find and enjoy them immensely. This story was no different. The setting was easy to visualize, the story moved along at a nice pace, the narrator was pleasant to listen to. As compared to other classics, this book was a little bit of an easier listen. You will not be disappointed.... If you enjoy classics - try Uncle Tom's Cabin, A Tale of Two Cities, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Crime and Punishment....there are so many wonderful stories

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